i completely agree with wht u have said for diet soft drinks and fat free foods .. its true that all of us have become health consious and majority of us buy a product after having read the labels on them ... but we need a deeper understanding of these products as many companies use these terms for better marketing .. but the substitutes they use have various side effects on health. lets not fall prey for such products... "choose healthy, to live healthy ..!!! "

Is Diet coke bad?

Diet coke has artificial sweeteners.Have you ever read the label on artificial sweeteners,it says not suitable for chidren ;why?Because artificial sweeteners are carcinogenic .So never consume the things having artificial sweeteners.Try to use natural sugar wherever it is must.

All the cola drinks have very low pH value,i.e. highly acidic which disturbs the natural pH of your digestive system.Bile juices which are a must in fat digestion are alkaline.If the pH is reduced Bile will not be able to digest the fat properly,so the fat will get stored.
And all the cola drinks erode tooth enamel becoz of their low pH.
Cola drinks contains high amount of pesticides as preservatives.

@ shikha .. i completely agree with you for every thing u say about cola drinks .. but talking about sweetners .. its true tht most of them have bad effects on health on a long run .. but there have been some researches lately on "sucralose" this is a safe artificial sweetener. hence there are some sucralose based artificial sweeteners now available in the market ... so wht i wld advice is .. while buying a artificial sweetener please read the label on it to knw the type of sweetener is has ... and opt for sucralose. even stevia is a very gud , natural and safe sweeteners .. but currentlyy its availability in india is scarse.

@ Payal
Aspartame is in market since last 20 years and people have now become aware of its side effect,so the companies has come to the rescue as the newest chemical sugar replacement “made from real sugar.”
The side effect of sucralose is still under documentation stage.However,sucralose is made from the chlorination of sucrose and no company can guarantee what amount we retain and how much chlorine we are able to flush out of our body. Chlorine, like common chemical that we’ve trusted as a purifier, is actually affecting our health in more ways than we can ever imagine.
Now the sweetener industry has gone a step further in their quest to copy real sugar’s sweet flavor. They are mixing artificial sweeteners together. Mixtures of any artificial sweeteners are called 'sweetener blends' which can have a negative impact on your health like weight gain, disruption of sleep patterns, sexual dysfunction, increases in cancer, MS, Lupus, diabetes, and a list of epidemic degenerative diseases.
Looking at the associated risk factors,I will never advocate the use of diet chemicals.

The article says smoothies are bad! I make smoothies with cow's milk, water and two table spoons of strawberry crush. How can that be bad!?!?!

@ Saunskruti
Home made smoothies prepared from low fat or skimmed milk,fresh fruits and minimum sugar are not unhealthy.But the one available in market, prepared from whole milk ,creme,canned fruits(preserved in sugar syrups) and loads of sugar are
hypercaloric and should be avoided.

for homemade smoothies, i use fresh fruit, juice not made from concentrate, sometimes plain yogurt... but the sweetener i use is a banana... i dont taste the banana very much ( of course, if you want to taste it just add another banana or two), when i want high fiber, i throw in grounded flax seed.

strarberry crush is nt bad right? bottle says 280 calories per 100 gms...so its like 28 calories per tablespoon?
@ Nancy: Wr do you get flax seeds? are they high in calorie content?

Healthy not necessarily mean lesser calorie. I prefer proper nutrition over just calorific value.

flax seed sold at cub foods or rainbow foods or the like, in the bulk area check your food store bulk area...

@shikha-

Sucralose has been accepted by several national and international food safety regulatory bodies, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Joint Food and Agriculture Organization / World Health Organization Expert Committee on Food Additives, The European Union's Scientific Committee on Food, Health Protection Branch of Health and Welfare Canada, and Food Standards Australia-New Zealand (FSANZ)

"In determining the safety of sucralose, the FDA reviewed data from more than 110 studies in humans and animals. Many of the studies were designed to identify possible toxic effects, including carcinogenic, reproductive, and neurological effects. No such effects were found, and FDA's approval is based on the finding that sucralose is safe for human consumption."

as far as cholrine is concerned- Sucralose belongs to a class of compounds known as organochlorides (or chlorocarbons). Some organochlorides, particularly those that accumulate in fatty tissues, are toxic to plants or animals, including humans. Sucralose, however, is not known to be toxic and is extremely insoluble in fat; it cannot accumulate in fat like chlorinated hydrocarbons. In addition, sucralose does not break down or dechlorinate. The chemistry of organochlorides differs from that of inorganic chlorine salts. Therefore, comparisons of sucralose to the safety of chloride salts, such as those made by the International Food Information Council (IFIC),are not relevant.

Re smoothies & fruit juice completely agree - I could not lose weight for years until I swapped cow's milk for soya.And nobody loved milk more than me! Cow's milk has a lot of hormones and I think I was possibly constantly trying to be balanced and emotionally eating. Why do you think it is natural to drink another animal's milk? It only lasts a short time for a reason. Its disgusting! Not to mention what the animal and calf have to go through. Cows milk also stimulates excess mucus (hayfever/immune responses etc). No idea, but I suspect they also pump the animal with other hormones/chemicals to get it continuously milking.Try swapping cow's milk for rice or soya milk for a month or so, I lost 8kgs in 4 months with exercise, & got my BMI to 22. Don't even like the taste anymore.Try lots of versions, eg mine is soya mixed with apple juice.Its also more environmentally friendly.I'd never go near artificial sweetners. They increase the level at which you notice something is sweet, so you eat more looking for that level.You wouldn't eat it on its own, so why eat it in something else.